James McKinney is one of the best banjoist today but his non-music career has kept him out of the limelight. He is a true master of the banjo. This video was made many years ago.
This was a piece that James worked up and used to compete in the national banjo championship competition... He won. Became the national banjo champion and continued to play at Opryland Theme Park with Russ & Becky Jeffers for many years. He is an amazing talent and good friend.
In this video, James is with the Smokey Mountain Sunshine who were part of the daily entertainment at Opryland in Nashville, TN, back in the70s and early 80s. James is probably the best picker I've ever heard. And the lady playing bass is Becky Jeffers who, with her husband Russ, founded Smokey Mountain Sunshine and were the top draw at Opryland for years. In my opinion, when James left SMS, it was never quite the same. He is amazing.
I agree.. James brought so much energy to the show. It was a lot of fun. I'll pass this along to my parents Russ & Becky. I'm working on putting up some never before seen videos of the band from those days.
@@davidjeffers68 I am eager to see more videos of your parents. By sheer coincidence I have their first album on my turntable right now. For years, in the 70s, we traveled to Opryland every Memorial Day and would always catch a couple of bluegrass shows.
The piece is an arrangement Larry McNeely made of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony Ouverture. In "Live at Mc Cabe's" (with Jack Skinner e Geoff Levin) the piece is called "Beethoven's Fifth".
